Turkey’s indigenously-developed 1500 HP Tank Engine BATU Ignited for First Time

[T-SaGe]

Turkey today turned-on it’s indigenously developed 1,500-horsepower engine, BATU, that will power various armored vehicles and tanks, Defense Industries Presidency Head Ismail Demir said Wednesday.

Demir posted the informataion on his Twitter account with a video showing the ignition of the engine developed by BMC Power.

“Our defense industry is taking firm steps towards its targets in engine technology,” Demir said.

The locally-made engine is also set to power Turkey’s domestic main battle tank (MBT), Altay. The BATU is a 12-cylinder, V-type, water-cooled turbodiesel power unit. The engine will produce 1,500 horsepower and 4600 Nm of torque.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1389870572688093186

 

[AUz]

Good to see some progress on Turkish engine programs finally.

Hopefully all these engine programs become great success for the Turkish defence industry. I remember PD-170 engine was revealed for Turkish drone program, but AFAIK still most drones use foreign engine. Wonder why is that...??

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

Good to see some progress on Turkish engine programs finally.

Hopefully all these engine programs become great success for the Turkish defence industry. I remember PD-170 engine was revealed for Turkish drone program, but AFAIK still most drones use foreign engine. Wonder why is that...??

Not exactly. Anka, Aksungur and TB-2/3 UAVs, and long-range loitering munition (Kargi) platforms now use domestic turbo-diesel engines. Akinji currently uses the Ukrainian turbo-prop engines, but a domestic version is being developed by TEI. As for the cruise missiles and target/Kamikaze drones, domestic turbo-jet engines are being integrated....

The West has imposed sanctions for all components on all Turkish UAV platforms, so new productions have almost ZERO western components....

Bayraktar has formed a JV with a Ukranian company to produce its own turbo-prop and turbo-fan engines for its UAVs including jet powered combat drones....

Turkey is in talks with Ukraine to gain 50% share of her aero-engine manufacturer....

 

[AUz]

Not exactly. Anka, Aksungur and TB-2/3 UAVs, and long-range loitering munition (Kargi) platforms now use domestic turbo-prop engines. Akinji currently uses the Ukrainian engines, but a domestic version is being developed by TEI. As for the cruise missiles and target/Kamikaze drones, domestic turbo-jet engines are being integrated....

The West has imposed sanctions for all components on all Turkish UAV platforms, so new productions have almost ZERO western components....

Bayraktar has formed a JV with a Ukranian company to produce its own turbo-prop and turbo-fan engines for its UAVs including jet powered combat drones....

Turkey is in talks with Ukraine to gain 50% share of its aero-engine manufacturer....

Amazing news. Godspeed to Turkish brothers!!

 

[SgtGungHo]

Not exactly. Anka, Aksungur and TB-2/3 UAVs, and long-range loitering munition (Kargi) platforms now use domestic turbo-prop engines.

TEI engines (TD-170 and so on) are aircraft diesel engines, not turboprop engines (which are gasturbine engines).

Akinji currently uses the Ukrainian engines, but a domestic version is being developed by TEI.

I believe TEI said that they could potentially convert TS-1400 into a turboprop engine by re-using the core engine in the future. It is very plausable, but I am not sure Turkey has actually started to fund the project (it sounds dubious as TS-1400 is still in development).

 

[Ahmet Pasha]

Great news. Congratulations.
These few key technologies faster you develop the faster Turk defence will be free of Western dependence.

 

[T-SaGe]

I believe TEI said that they could potentiall convert TS-1400 into a turboprop engine by re-using the engine core in the future. It is very plausable, but I am not sure Turkey has actually started to fund the project (it sounds dubious as TS-1400 is still in development).

According to the general manager of TEI, the TS-1400 project currently serves the purposes of completing the infrastructure for jet engine development and creating the necessary libraries and human resources. In many press conferences, he said that the TS-1400 core engine can be easily derived according to the turboporp and turbofan needs and that the design has been progressing with this in mind from the very beginning.

20:17

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

TEI engines (TD-170 and so on) are aircraft diesel engines, not turboprop engines (which are gasturbine engines).



I believe TEI said that they could potentiall convert TS-1400 into a turboprop engine by re-using the engine core in the future. It is very plausable, but I am not sure Turkey has actually started to fund the project (it sounds dubious as TS-1400 is still in development).

Thanks for the corrections....

 

[TNT]

Turkey really steaming ahead with engine indigenization, one of the most difficult challenge.

 

[merzifonlu]

I believe TEI said that they could potentially convert TS-1400 into a turboprop engine by re-using the core engine in the future. It is very plausable, but I am not sure Turkey has actually started to fund the project (it sounds dubious as TS-1400 is still in development).

Thats true. The turboprop version of the TS-1400 engine will be required for Hürkuş. But our top priority is to develop a 30,000 lbs class turbofan right now. Absolutely essential for TFX.

The 3 most important engine projects for us are: a) UTKU power package, b) BATU power package and c) a turbofan engine of 30,000 lbs class.

Until these happen, we will be content with aviation engines of Ukrainian origin. We have also engine projects that are very close to completion. They should also be taken into our inventory as soon as possible. (TS-1400, TJ3200, AZRA, etc etc.)

I remember PD-170 engine was revealed for Turkish drone program, but AFAIK still most drones use foreign engine. Wonder why is that...??

There were previously purchased engines for the TB-2. However, domestic engines are used in all our drones currently in production. Our main goal is to use our own engines in our own weapons. We cannot compromise on this.

When you use foreign engines, you are giving first-hand information about your own defense capacity. However, when you make weapons with a domestic engine, your enemies will have difficulty in estimating your capacity.

This situation alone explains how much domestic engines are needed!

 

[Bilal Khan (Quwa)]

Great news. Congratulations.
These few key technologies faster you develop the faster Turk defence will be free of Western dependence.

I remember them talking about an indigenous tank engine 2-3 years ago. They originally tried getting the help of an Austrian company, but that avenue fell through. So the Turks took the entire program in-house. So they got working prototypes of both a helicopter engine and a tank engine -- IMHO, it's time to have faith in their turbofan. It'll be their most difficult road yet, but if anything, they have the right foundations to work with moving forward.

 

[Philip the Arab]

Good thing the Turks didn't pick up any 'Pakistaniat' along the way. I remember reading about their engine efforts 2-3 years ago (after their attempt to work with an Austrian company failed). By combining domestic R&D, money, and some ingenuity, the Turks figured it out.

I think they had help from British and Koreans on the project. They are trying to unseat German engine dominance supposedly.

 

[SgtGungHo]

I think they had help from British and Koreans on the project. They are trying to unseat German engine dominance supposedly.

Probably British on transmission and Korean for integration of powerpack. However, I believe the engine itself is mostly indigenous.

It would be interesting to see how the Turkish powerpack actually performs against the competition (if they ever mass-manufacture the engine and transmission), especially the German one because America, Franch, Japan and Korea and other countries who are capable of developing an indigenous powerpack have tacitly accepted so far that Germany designs & builds a better military diesel powerack. Their issue isn't whether the in-house powerpack could produce the promised output nor torque at the specified RPM, but whether if their powerpack is reliable, servicable and economical much as the German powerpack.

I hazard a guess that Turkish officials understand that the Turkish powerpack may not be 'ready' (being able to satisfy the Turkish & Western military standards) soon enough and that's why they still invited Korea to supply an engine & transmission for Altay even though Korea itself doesn't have a stellar record in developing a diesel powerpack.

 

[MMM-E]

I remember them talking about an indigenous tank engine 2-3 years ago. They originally tried getting the help of an Austrian company, but that avenue fell through. So the Turks took the entire program in-house

IMHO, it's time to have faith in their turbofan. It'll be their most difficult road yet, but if anything, they have the right foundations to work with moving forward.

We tried getting the help of an British company RR for turbofan Engine
but that avenue fell through. So the Turks took the entire program in-house by 2018

wait for 2026

TR-MOTOR turbofan Engine to be ignited for the first time by 2026


UTKU Engine for Howitzers by 2023
BATU Engine for Tanks by 2024
TS-1400 turboshaft Engine by 2024
TR-MOTOR turbofan Engine by 2029-2030

I think they had help from British and Koreans on the project

powerpack consisting of engine, transmission and cooling package

1500 hp BATU Engine is 100% Turkish but transmission is from The UK

 

[merzifonlu]

There was direct British assistance in the transmission used for UTKU. The British had software support in the transmission made for BATU. BATU's transmission was designed by our engineers.

So why do we trust ourselves when it comes to especially BATU's transmission? We gained experience in superalloys while developing the TS-1400 engine. Therefore, we think that we can make the transmission with the desired robustness.

Time will tell whether we are right or not.